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Part VI: Advanced Modeling

FIGURE 24.2
The Containers toolbar

Note
The various container commands can be accessed from within the Scene Explorer by enabling the Containers
toolbar. n

When a container is created, you can move, rotate, scale, and change the display properties of all the
objects contained within the container by simply selecting the container icon first.

Closing and saving containers
When a container is first created, it is open by default. The icon for an open container displays an open
box. When you select the command to close a container, then the icon changes to display a closed box. The
first time this happens, a file dialog box opens, where you can save and name the container. Max container
files are saved using the .maxc file extension.

Note
Within the file dialog box, you can use the Save as Type drop-down list to save the container as a Max 2011
Container or as a Max 2010 Container. n
Closed containers cannot be edited by anyone except their creator. Closing a container also causes its
objects to be removed from the scene, but their display is still visible because the objects are referenced
from the saved file.
Updating and reloading containers
When a container is loaded into a scene from a saved container file using the Inherit Content button, it is
inherited into the current scene. The inherited file maintains a link to the original container, and if the orig-
inal container is edited, you can use the Update button to get the most recently saved changes.
If the container is open and allows edits, the Edit in Place button may be clicked to allow the current user
to make edits to the container contents. This locks the container from all other users while the Edit in Place
button is enabled. Once released, the edits are saved and made available for other users.
If you make edits that you’d like to ignore, you can use the Reload command to throw away any changes
that have occurred since the last save. You also can break the link to the container with the Make All
Content Unique button.

Setting container rules
Before a container is closed, you can set rules for defining exactly what content can be edited by other users.
These rules are found in the Rules rollout, shown in Figure 24.3. The options include No Access, which is
applied when a container is closed; Only Edit in Place, which gives anyone that opens the container full
rights to edit the container’s contents; Only Add New Objects, which gives the user that opens the container

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